This relates to multi-camera imaging. Multi-camera imaging is an emerging field of computational photography. While the multi-camera imager is suitable for many applications, measurement of scene depth using parallax (disparity) is one of its fundamental advantages and leads to the many promising applications. Multiple camera platforms capture the same scene from different perspectives. The images are processed to determine the relative shift of the objects from one image to the next. The objects closer to the camera show more lateral shift, while objects farther from the camera show reduced lateral shift. This relative shift is referred to as disparity and is used to calculate depth. Various algorithms can be used for disparity (therefore depth) estimation.
Digital camera simulators are available as commercial software packages such as Imaging Systems Evaluation toolbox (ISET). These systems accurately model scene radiometry, optics and sensors of a traditional camera and allow simulating scenes with different camera parameters and scene properties. Such simulations of digital cameras have previously allowed scientists and engineers to quickly analyze, understand and design various camera components and evaluate relative performances of different designs.
An image simulation package divides camera simulation into different components including scene, optics, sensor and image processing, allowing control of parameters for each of those. The input parameters are either manufacturer specified or measured.